A Dictionary of Painters. Volume 4

London: Printed for J. Johnson, R. Faulder, J. Walker etc. 1805. — 360 p.Pilkington, Matthew (17011774) was a satirist, art historian, church minister and author of Pilkington's Dictionary of Painters, a standard work for most of the nineteenth century.
In 1770, Pilkington published a dictionary/handbook on eminent artists titled, The Gentleman's and Connoisseur's Dictionary of Painters. The work contained artists biographies, critical rankings of the artists, and an analysis of the art market in the Netherlands and England. The book, the first of its kind in England, quickly became popular, going through numerous editions. In the early nineteenth century it was taken over by the Swiss/English artist Henry Fuseli and appearing as A Dictionary of Painters in 1805 and 1810 editions. After 1824, it appeared as standard as A General Dictionary of Painters and was commonly known as "Pilkington's Dictionary."